Practice essay questionswith/without revision.

People and politicsUnit 1.

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Why are some pressure groups more successful than others?

(Without revision)
A pressure group may be informal or formal. They may either further the
interest of a specific interest in society or they may promote an issue or cause.
There are many ways pressure groups can be classified, for example; as
insiders, outsiders, and sectional or promotional groups. All still are considered
as pressure groups and have ways in which they may try to become
successful, some would use finance and others the media. There are many
reasons why a group such as fathers 4 justice may be more successful than
the pressure group WWF. One simple reason is due to the lack of publicity a
pressure group may achieve. More reasons of why some pressure groups are
much more successful than others will be discussed throughout this essay.
Firstly, the membership of a pressure group definitely enables the success, as
an increasingly large amount of members belonging to one pressure group
would result in the pressure group being more known. For example, the
pressure group friends of the earth has more than over 200,000 members
and this makes it easier for the pressure group to expand more and get
noticed. And also, it allows the pressure group to influence decisions much
easily. If a government sees that a group has a large amount of members they
may consider taking their issues into consideration, however if a much smaller
pressure group wanted to influence decisions, their views and issues may not
be taken seriously and therefore nothing would be done concerning their
issues.
Secondly, the amount of money (finance) a pressure group has may advantage
a pressure group. Groups having much more money would then mean they are
able to spend money on creating advertisements, posters and possibly leaflets
to raise awareness of their pressure groups. It would also mean they are able
to hold campaigns and protest, as they have enough money to do so. For
example, Greenpeace is able to protest and create leaflets etc, as they have
enough money to do so; this allows them to expand as a pressure group and
creates awareness within the public, of the pressure group.
Moreover, the organization of a pressure group would mean that a pressure
group is able to carry out its tasks more effectively. Which would result in;
pressure groups being a greater influence to the public since, they would be
more aware of what they are doing. For example, if make poverty history
were not organised, in the sense of their logo, their group name and set of
aims; they would not be easily recognised and also they may not be able to
influence the public greatly, as it is organization which allows a pressure group

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to realise what it is they need to do and when to do it. They need to have aims
set out, their focus e.g. what the main interest or cause of the group is and
what they are going to do to try and prevent the cause or further the interest.
A group may want to protest or influence decision makers, however this cannot
be done unless a pressure group is organized first.
Luckily, a pressure group having an Insider status allows them to stay close
with the government. It would allow a pressure group to gain trust from the
government. If the government is able to trust a group it makes it easier for
them to influence decisions that are made and have their say, therefore laws
can easily be made regarding their issues. The pressure group, confederation
of British industry has very close relations with the government and therefore
may find it easier to influence the government than any other pressure groups.
Celebrity involvement allows a pressure group to be well known within the
public and media. It allows groups to grow excessively due to the famous faces
which may be recognised with the pressure group. It may give some of them
extra advantages, for example; Jamie Oliver runs a one man pressure group to
do with healthy eating his celebrity status allows him have the advantage to
own television shows and influence the public through media.

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10 mark question.
What problems are associated with direct democracy?
Direct democracy is when the people themselves are directly involved in
making decisions, they may participate by voting in referendums or maybe
join or form pressure groups which are focusing on a specific interests of theirs.

Example 1: ancient Greece= Athens.

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Assess the view that pressure groups strengthen democracy.

(with book help)

Pressure groups are organizations, they can be either formal or informal. Some
may choose to focus on an interest and aim to further that interest, whilst
others may promote a cause or issue. Pressure groups allow any citizen
sharing the same interest or concern about an issue or cause to join and help
maybe influence the decision makers decisions and get across views. Most
would agree that this benefits democracy, as it means that the people
themselves are making decisions and getting involved in activities directly.
However, there may some, with their reasons which would argue that pressure
groups do not strengthen democracy at all. In my opinion, pressure groups do
strengthen democracy , on the contrary this essay will explore reasons why
pressure groups DO and do NOT strengthen democracy.
Firstly, it is vital to focus on reasons for why pressure groups may seem to
hinder democracy and not strengthen it at all. One reason is that pressure
groups are seen as un accountable. This may because they do not seem to
have accountable leaderships, which could mean there is a danger of the
groups which claim to represent thousands, are only groups based on the ideas
of the individual running the group. Not all pressure groups are covered by the
1980s, industrial relations legislation which included the provision that union
leaders must be elected by their members.
Secondly, the activities of some pressure groups may challenge the democratic
process directly. Some pressuregroups such as animal right pressure groups
and environmental pressure groups may engage in illegal, violent or
controversial activities which they would be strongly criticised for. For
example, in 1990 an animal rights group caused the death of a research
scientists child in a car bomb. The activities which may be carried out by some
pressuregroups would infact weaken democracy as there would not be
anything for the people and by the people due to the harm caused to some for
others views and expression of emotions.
On the contrary, there are much more reasons for why pressure groups may
strengthen democracy. One reason is because they are an added form of

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participation, they give ordinary people an additional means of participation.

For example, when it comes closer to election time some voters may feel as if
they have little influence over the political parties in government. Forexample,
if the labour party were not creating policies which interested some
citizens, citizens then may try to influence their decisions by forming pressure
groups.
Moreover, pressure groups are a measure of public opinion which governments
and political parties may want to take notice of
Lastly, pressure groups are an added form of representation

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